The UN Security Council unanimously approved a tough resolution yesterday evening authorising sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, bringing to an end two months of often fractious negotiations aimed at pressuring Tehran to clarify its nuclear ambitions.

The resolution orders all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. It also imposes an asset freeze on key companies and individuals involved in the programmes named on a UN list.

The resolution did not include a full travel ban which the US, in particular, had been seeking on individuals involved in Iran's nuclear programme. Instead states have been asked to inform the Security Council of movements across their borders by named individuals on the list. Diplomatic sources told The Observer last night that it should be seen as an interim step towards a full travel ban if Iran fails to comply.

'There has obviously been a lot of horse-trading and conversations between experts up to heads of state. This is an interim measure that would allow us to go back and seek further sanctions in future if Iran fails to comply,' a source said last night.

The final breakthrough came after a telephone call yesterday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George Bush to break the deadlock on the Security Council.

The unanimous vote took place as the US warned 'it would not hesitate to return to this body to seek further action should Iran fail to comply'.

Iran's Foreign ministry immediately condemned the Security Council decision as illegal. Earlier in the day Iran had warned that it would reconsider its relationship with the UN and, in particular, its commitments to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency if sanctions were imposed. Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a Foreign ministry spokesman, told state-run television that the resolution 'cannot affect or limit Iran's peaceful nuclear activities, but will discredit the decisions of the Security Council, whose power is deteriorating'.

The resolution was immediately welcomed by Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, who said Iran now faced a critical choice. Beckett said: 'Today's resolution marks an important moment. Iran faces a choice, between a route that allows it to develop a modern civil nuclear power programme and brings many benefits to its people, or further defiance and the costs of isolation. I hope it will choose the positive path.'

Until the last moments before the vote, it was not clear whether all 15 Security Council members would support the resolution.

Until now Russia had expressed severe reservations over imposing sanctions on Iran and had attempted to persuade the regime in Tehran to help dispel international suspicions over the nature of its nuclear programme that Iran has insisted is peaceful. Iran has made its position more difficult in recent months following comments by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparently threatening Israel.